Suddenlink given more time; Charleston, county commission granted intervenor status

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission has given Suddenlink more time to submit information on how its improved its operation in West Virginia.

The recent order is part of an investigation the PSC announced last month after receiving hundreds of complaints about the company’s service.

Charlotte Lane

Suddenlink provides cable, internet and phone service in West Virginia.

The company was originally ordered to have information to the PSC by July 30. The commission is now giving Suddenlink until Aug. 31 to submit the information that is to provide details on completed and projected improvement projects to its cable television service; specific outage information; the processes used to issue and track trouble tickets; customer complaint call logs; a copy of all Suddenlink’s current franchises for cable television service in the state; metrics regarding training, personnel, office locations and hours of operation.

MORE Read recent order here

Meanwhile, the PSC has also granted intervenor status in the case to the cities of Charleston, Elkins and Beckley along with the Kanawha County Commission.

There are public hearings in the case scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Raleigh County Courthouse in Beckley beginning at 5 p.m. and two public hearings on Aug. 24 at PSC headquarters in Charleston. The first at 10:30 a.m. and the second at 6 p.m.

The evidentiary hearing in the case is now set for Oct. 6 in Charleston.

PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane met with Suddenlink officials in May and asked for a response to complaints from customers by June 7. Suddenlink responded by the deadline but its response contained neither a correction plan nor details of the steps that Suddenlink has taken to improve cable television service.

“Suddenlink’s response to our request for a corrective plan to its disastrous customer service problems was completely inadequate, To characterize over 1,900 complaints in a positive fashion as ‘less than 1%’ of its customer base, is particularly concerning,” Lane said at the time.

The PSC opened a formal investigation on July 1.